


Just Another Mark

by OwnerOfAClonelyHeart



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:29:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26018059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OwnerOfAClonelyHeart/pseuds/OwnerOfAClonelyHeart
Summary: Sarah meets Cal.
Relationships: Sarah Manning/Cal Morrison
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by and dedicated to everyone else on this site that has ever written a Sarah/Cal fic.

Felix's walk turned in to a light canter as the rain began to pick up, pulling his hood over his head and quickly pushing his way into the bar. It was almost 11pm and the crowd had considerably thinned so he had no trouble locating his sister, already at the bar throwing back a glass of bourbon. He scanned the other patrons while making his way over and sitting next to her, placing a kiss on her cheek. The surly barman wandered over.

"A glass of coke please." Felix asked politely.

"You got ID?" he asked accusingly.

"Oh no, I'm 17. Hence the coke." 

"And I'll have another bourbon, rocks. And a double shot of vodka please, mate." Sarah added as the barman filled a glass with soda. He poured the liquors into the two glasses, took the crinkled bills that Sarah handed over and returned to the other side of the bar, eyeing them suspiciously. Felix took a big gulp of coke and, waiting for the barman to look the other way, deposited the vodka into the glass, stirring it with his finger. Sarah took the now empty shot glass and made a big show of throwing it back and slamming it on the bar.

"Only two more years, Fe. Then you can finally start buying me drinks." Sarah said, squeezing his shoulder.

"So... Got your eye on anyone in particular?" Felix asked while looking around at the patrons still drinking. Sarah slowly analysed the crowd before settling on the man sitting alone at a table in the corner. Wavy, brown hair and a thick beard. Nose deep in a book, he checked his watch, letting out a deep sigh.

"Corner table, reading. What you reckon? Stood up, maybe?" she asked Felix.

"You'd have to be crazy to stand him up." Felix replied. "Handsome bloke, not really your type though."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sarah defensively responded.

"Well, for starters, he's reading a book." 

"Yeah, alright fair point." Sarah conceded.

An hour later, a few barflies drunkenly stumbled out into the rainy night, hailing cabs. The bar was almost empty now.

"Well good luck darling. I better be off. S is probably waiting to kick my arse. Speak tomorrow yeah?" they hugged tightly before Felix joined the drunks outside waiting for more taxis to arrive. Sarah ordered another drink, glanced over to the stranger in the corner, and ordered another bottle of the beer he was currently nursing. She confidently strolled over and slid the bottle on the table. He looked up, startled, but his expression softened slightly at Sarah's disarming smile.

"Thought you could do with another one, that one's been empty for a while." 

"Uh, thanks." he nervously smiled.

"This seat taken." she asked, pulling the chair in front of him out.

"Well uh, it was supposed to be. But no, it's not." He took a deep drink of beer and closed his book.

"You're not from round here are you." Sarah playfully accused.

"Not to be rude, but I'm more local than you, miss London." he replied.

"Oi, I've lived here since I was 12 mate. And I've been going to bars round here since I was 16, never seen you in one though."

"I live outside the city. Bout a 2 hour drive into the woods."

"You some kind of lumberjack?"

"Something like that."

"Bet that must be a hit with the city girls. Surprised to see you alone in here. Must take some guts, standing you up." Sarah was laying it on thick, thinking a country boy probably wasn't used to the attention. He smirked and brushed his long hair back.

"Actually I was supposed to be meeting a business partner. He said he'd meet me here at 10, but..." he gestured at the near empty bar.

"What kind of business?" Sarah asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh, if I told you, I'd have to kill you." the man replied.

They talked for a while, Sarah pulling out all her standard moves, initiating contact, reaching out and stroking his hand while he told stories about some techno bullshit she didn't understand. He was funny. He made her laugh, but not her fake, practiced laugh she used to make men feel at ease. She found herself having a genuine good time talking to him, and couldn't hide her disappointment when he finished his beer and stood up, pulling his coat on.

"Well, it's been fun talking to you, but I should get going. It's getting late." he said.

"When you gonna be back in town? In case you need someone to keep you company when your business partner bails on you again." Sarah smiled coyly.

"I'm not sure. Maybe soon though." He started to make his way to the door as Sarah stood up to stop him.

"What's your name, lumberjack?"

"Cal."

"I'm Sarah."

"Nice to meet you." he held is hand out and she took it, shaking it like a professional businessman might, trying to hide the big smile fighting it's way on to her lips.

"Nice to meet you too." she said, holding on to his hand a little too long.


	2. Chapter 2

"So how'd it go with the handsome stranger?" Felix asked, pouring tea for the two of them.

"Really well. actually."

"D'you shag him?"

"No!"

"Couldn't have gone that well then." Felix laughed, avoiding Sarah's punch aimed at his arm.

"We just talked for a bit. He's a nice bloke." Sarah sighed, taking a sip of tea.

"Blimey, sounds like you got a crush dear sister."

"Piss off! Just saying. he's soft. It's easier for me now. It can be tough when they're hard bastards. They never fully trust me. This guy might though."

"You seeing him again?" Felix asked.

"I dunno, maybe. He doesn't live in the city. Lives in the bloody woods."

"Sounds like a creepy murderer, Sarah. Goes to bars reading his book, luring in young girls who get their knickers all knotted around him, takes them into the woods and chops them up. You wanna be careful." Felix laughed.

"He's not like that, Fe. He's smart. Was talking about all this shit with computers and stuff, I couldn't keep up. Kept going on about some business partner that he was supposed to meet. I think he could have a bit of money, y'know?"

"Well don't expect me to go running into the woods after you and Jason Vorhees if you do go through with this, it's hard enough to get into the city at night without getting an earful in the morning." Felix gestured to the room above them, belonging to their foster mother.

"She give you a hard time when you got in?" Sarah asked.

"No harder than usual, it's not the late nights she moans about. Just the company I keep." he looked at Sarah.

"You're my brother, Fe. She can't stop you from spending time with me." Sarah put her hand on his, stroking her thumb across the top.

"Dragging me to bars in the middle of the night isn't doing much to rebuild any bridges, Sarah."

"You're 18 in a couple of months. Move out like I did. We can get a place together." 

"I can see S taking that well. Almost tore the house apart after you left, and I'm her favourite child, she'll be devastated. Besides, can we even afford a place?" Felix asked.

"Well hopefully if this job goes well, we will. I want us to be together, Fe." 

"Yeah, you me and Paul Bunyun makes three. Quite a family we'd make."

"He's just another mark, Felix. Don't worry about me, I won't get carried away with this one." Sarah said reassuringly.

"Never heard that one before." Felix teased.

Sarah finished her tea, kissed Felix on the cheek and headed out before Mrs S returned, desperately wanting to avoid a run in with her.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been three weeks since Sarah and Cal's first encounter.

Sarah had returned to that bar every other day, sometimes bringing Felix with her, but he hadn't returned. She cursed herself for not getting his number, then cursed him for not asking for hers. She replayed their conversation in her head as she sat alone at the bar, a small smile forcing it's way on to her lips as she remembered a stupid joke he'd made. Her head would snap towards the door of the bar every time it opened, only for disappointment to hit her when it was someone else.

Was Felix right?

She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and tried to refocus on what she would say the next time she saw him. How to steer the conversation towards his job. Any other thing she could get him to talk about that might give her a little more information about him.

Sarah checked her phone for the time.

11:49pm.

She was about to give it up for another night and head home when the door opened and a familiar face walked in. 

Her beaming smile that had erupted almost immediately vanished when another man walked in after Cal, mid conversation with him. Cal gave Sarah a small smile of recognition as they passed by and headed to the other end of the bar, ordering their drinks.

Sarah debated leaving, but decided to hang around a little. Subtly, she tried to eavesdrop on their conversation. They spoke in hushed whispers but she made out a few words. 'Buyout', 'payoff', 'government', 'bullshit'. 

Cal seemed defeated, but his friend seemed in a better mood, almost celebratory. They retired to a table and drank eagerly. Sarah waited for Cal's friend to head to the restroom and made her way over.

"Didn't think I'd see you here again." she smiled at him.

"Well, here I am." he said bitterly.

"What you so pissed about?" Sarah replied defensively. Cal's stiff posture softened slightly as he sighed.

"Sorry, today's been a shitty day." He said apologetically.

"Your friend seems in a good mood." Sarah noted.

"He's not my friend. Not really anyway."

"Ah, the famous 'business partner' that stood you up?" Sarah asked, glancing in the direction of the restrooms, checking to see if he had returned yet.

"Again, not anymore." Cal seemed defeated as he took another big gulp of beer.

"Well, sorry for... whatever happened." Sarah turned back towards the bar as Cal's friend returned and took his seat. Sarah finished her drink and was ready to leave when Cal came over to the bar to order another round. He slyly handed Sarah a napkin and pen.

"Give me your number. I'll let you know when I'm in town again." he said confidently. 

Sarah took the pen and wrote her number, taken by his confidence.

"Don't bring him next time yeah? I could've really cheered you up tonight." she slid the napkin over to him and headed out into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Sarah hadn't expected Cal to message her so soon after their last meeting, and was taken by surprise when her phone buzzed less than a week later.

'In town tonight. Usual place. 10.'

Sarah was almost ashamed at the small squeak of joy she let out after reading the message. She tried to tell herself that she was just excited to speed up the con. The sooner she got out of this one the better. But she couldn't stop herself from agonising over what to wear, if she should style her hair differently, how much eye shadow is 'too much'. She stared in the mirror, putting the finishing touches on her look and exhaled deeply, trying to calm her nerves.

"You've been here before. He's just another mark." she told her reflection.

Sarah arrived a few minutes after 10 but decided to hang around outside for a bit. Mainly to not appear so eager, but also to try and steady her constantly growing nerves. She risked a glance through the window and felt her heartbeat accelerate when she spotted him at the bar. The place was far busier than usual tonight but Sarah thought this was probably a good thing. Less of an intimate setting would allow her to keep in control of herself. She looked again and saw a tall blonde woman talking to Cal, laughing animatedly at something he said. A strange jealousy started building in the pit of Sarah's stomach but she insisted to herself that she was just worried about this bitch ruining her plan. She pushed into the busy bar and strode over to Cal and the blonde.

"Sarah! Hey." Cal's eyes lit up as he turned towards her.

"Who's your friend?" Sarah asked trying to sound innocuous.

"Oh this is... uh... sorry what was it again?" he asked apologetically.

"Chrissy..." the blonde replied looking pissed off. Sarah shot her a venomous look, clearly marking her territory and the woman took the hint and returned to her friends looking defeated.

"Sorry for interrupting your date." Sarah teased Cal.

"Yeah I'm not much of a flirter and she tried way too hard." He replied innocently. "I'm glad you came." he added.

"Yeah, me too." Sarah replied.

Conversation came incredibly easy to them. Cal was different than most guys Sarah talked to. He was sensitive, funny, charming but not aware of how charming he was. He seemed incredibly open about his vulnerabilities with someone he didn't really know too well. Sarah thought about how easy it was going to be to get the information she needed from him, but couldn't help a small feeling of guilt start to creep into her mind.

"How comes you're always in here on your own. Waiting for cute girls to introduce themselves?" Sarah asked.

"No... i guess I don't have many friends here in the city. Better than drinking alone in a hotel room." Cal replied glumly.

"What about your mate from the other night?"

"He's not exactly a friend. We worked together."

"Doing what?"

"Well remember I was telling you about that tech project I was working on?"

"Kind of, it was like you were speaking Spanish to me though, didn't understand much of it." Sarah remembered him passionately trying to explain to her his project but she ended up being distracted by his soft eyes. Not that she would ever admit that to herself.

"Well, basically my partners and I made drones to help pollinate flowers in areas where the bee population has fallen."

"So you're trying to save the planet, very noble." Sarah smiled.

"Well I was, but my partners sort of screwed me over."

"How?"

"Well I can't really talk about it, but they took the project a different direction and I got bought out." Cal looked defeated as he leaned back, finishing the rest of his beer.

Sarah started to put together the parts of the conversation she had overheard previously and realised Cal probably had a lot more money than she originally thought. This could be a huge score. This could solve all of her problems, but could she really do something so terrible to such a good man? Sarah went to the bar to order another round and contemplated her options. 

As the evening started to wind down and the bar started to empty Cal, emboldened by their easy chemistry leaned over to Sarah and whispered.

"Want to get out of here?"

Sarah felt her heart start to pound as she stared in to his eyes.

"Yeah, sure."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. I started writing this at 1am with zero prep. Just started typing. Who knows where this is gonna go.


End file.
